Institutional changes, inequality and long-run economic development: Theory and empirics

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical literature on long-run economic development, institutional dynamics, and their interplay. Special attention is given to papers that explore the reasons why pro-growth reforms and institutional changes may be blocked. Among these reasons, over the past years the literature has increasingly focused on inequality in the distribution of wealth and political power as a key factor. This review is structured around two major theoretical approaches that illuminate the reasons behind the transition from stagnation to growth and cross-country income divergence: the unified growth theory (UGT), and the theory of endogenous institutional change. Using the empirical evidence on divergence between European and Middle Eastern economies, as well as the divergence within Europe, the paper demonstrates the value of these approaches in explaining the observed patterns of cross-country long-run development. The paper concludes with outlining several promising directions for future research.

“I Didn’t Know Ace Was a Thing”: Bisexuality and Pansexuality as Identity Pathways in Asexual Identity Formation

Identity formation for asexual people can be complicated by limited societal awareness of asexualities. Consequently, people who eventually identify as asexual often adopt other sexual identities in their early lives. In this paper, we extend sexual identity development theory by analyzing the identity trajectories of asexual people who once identified as bisexual or pansexual. Quantitative data suggests that about half of asexual respondents once identified as bisexual or pansexual and a third closely associate with bisexual or pansexual terminology. Qualitative data supports these findings, revealing that bisexuality, pansexuality, and asexuality are not always seen as mutually exclusive categories by asexual individuals. We argue that the intelligibility of bi-/pansexuality positions them as identity pathways for many asexual individuals who experience equal (albeit little to no) attractions toward men and women.

Community College Presidential Leadership: How Presidents Think and Act to Support the Holistic Needs of Their Students

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore how public community college presidents draw upon data, their core values, and lived experiences to make decisions about how they can best respond to the holistic needs of their students. Method: Utilizing secondary elite focus group data with 15 community college presidents in Texas, we employed a general qualitative approach to analyze the data through a conceptual framework that integrates community college leadership and holistic student development theory. Results: Our findings revealed that community college presidents make decisions primarily through select data sources such as external survey organizations and their own core belief systems. Although community college presidents agreed on the most pressing day-to-day issues affecting community college students today, the way in which they framed their decisions and perceptions varied across individuals and institutional contexts. As such, common strategies for addressing holistic student support are presented in this study. Contributions: The residual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to impact community colleges in the short and long term. As a result, community college presidents are pressed to develop leadership competencies to enhance their decision-making process. This study offers timely implications closely tied to community college leadership and student development theory to inform how community college leaders can enact relevant, data-driven policies, and practices to support their students holistically.

Specifying Learners’ Professional Needs in Academic Writing

The article examines the controversial procedure of analyzing the learner’s professional needs. Needs analysis is generally regarded as an invaluable tool for constructing a course syllabus. It might be really informative if the target situation analysis and present situation analysis are combined. Speaking about academic writing teaching for Russian non-academic students at the Bachelor Degree level, one should admit that students have no or limited experience of functioning in an academic area in English. Consequently, their responses to the questionnaires as one of the frequently used methods of target situation analysis are merely assumptions; and the answers could not be taken as objective and valid. The author presents a system of analyzing students’ needs within the framework of Academic Writing course: namely, distinguishes the stages that precede or follow teacher-student talks about their expectations, provides more objective practice of examining learners’ needs, and discusses ways of improving question-answer sessions/ interviews. Needs analysis practice that develops learners’ professional needs involves task-based learning, reflexive activities, and teaching to ask good questions. Bringing into life the analogy between customer development theory in management and needs analysis practice in education, it is possible to work out a fruitful strategy. Conducting needs analysis pertains equally to specifying and developing students’ needs in academic communication.

Defective Decision Making

Teacher burnout as the result of poor career choice and decision making plagues new teachers in the field of education, as well as special education. This chapter introduces theories of moral development and self-efficacy that explain the thought processes of teachers whose expectations in the field do not match the reality of teacher practice. Therefore, their decision making to enter the field contributes to early teacher burnout. Three case studies are described as examples to understand how the psychology of choice determines the factors that result in burnout. The chapter describes how the teachers' decisions relate to the psychology of moral development theory and self-efficacy theory for their career choice. Their behavior and attitude as a teacher relates to their catastrophic choices. The chapter presents suggestions that teachers can implement to make better decisions for their career choice.

Commentary on “Visualization in Operations Management Research”

This thoughtful review productively covers use of visualization in three operations management research issues: theory/model development, theory/model testing, and translation/conveyance. The authors’ admirable motivation is to promote use of visualization, but I believe (1) that a wider scope would provide a stronger foundation for their encouragement and (2) that a more positive attitude would increase the chances of their succeeding.